Kitahara had not expected to see Shanish here.
Still less had he expected her to appear before him like this.
After all, as far as he understood it, Shanish and Sunday Silence were similar in nature. Both were existences without physical bodies.
But now...
Feeling the warmth through his hand, once Kitahara came back to his senses, all sorts of thoughts immediately rose in his mind.
Was this some new technology? If this was possible, could Sunday Silence have a body too? And if she had a body, could she then...
"Then she could Uma Pyoi?"
Shanish looked at him and spoke calmly.
"My method doesn't apply to that one, but in truth, if she wanted to, it wouldn't be too difficult for her to obtain a body others could see."
"...Can you read minds?"
"No. I'm simply rather familiar with your expressions."
Shanish looked straight into Kitahara's eyes, her expression serious.
"After all, I've been watching you since the very beginning."
...That sounded like something a stalker would say.
Looking into her eyes, Kitahara felt flustered for reasons he could not explain.
"Why did you suddenly come here?"
"A small accident happened."
Shanish held his hand and spoke calmly.
"Originally, I hadn't intended to step in personally. After all, my previous state wasn't stable enough, and I didn't have the leeway to interfere."
"But a little while ago, an interesting person accidentally created this soulless shell while conducting forbidden research."
"So I came."
Umamusume were creatures that possessed souls.
One could even say they were creatures fundamentally composed of souls.
So someone's research had been headed in the wrong direction from the very start.
She had always tried to construct Umamusume through biological means, had always tried to heal Umamusume with flesh and blood, even risking herself in the process.
But in the end, all she had produced was a pile of soulless lumps of flesh, lying cold on the experimental table.
Yet that happened to be exactly what Shanish needed.
And this body...
Shanish did not even need to exert herself. Through simple contact and observation alone, Kitahara could easily sense the terrifying explosive power hidden beneath that petite frame.
And the dissonance within it.
"It seems you noticed. This isn't a proper Umamusume body."
"A great deal of that person's technology was fused into it. Even the skeleton is made of special alloy."
As she spoke, Shanish clenched her other hand.
The sound of bursting air rang out.
"See? Its strength is very high. Otherwise, it wouldn't be able to contain my power."
Its strength was indeed very high, whether in terms of muscular explosiveness or bodily flexibility...
To be honest, Kitahara was a little fascinated by her.
Fascinated on a technical level.
What a splendid body. He did not even dare imagine how terrifying its performance would be if it were thrown onto the racetrack...
But very quickly, he realized something was wrong.
"So what exactly are you here for?"
Kitahara came back to himself.
"Is it because of the 'new era'? You wanted to come discuss it with me?"
Shanish nodded.
"That is part of the reason, yes."
What does she mean, part of the reason?
For some reason, a bad premonition rose in Kitahara's heart.
"Then... what's the other part?"
Shanish quietly watched him for a while, then suddenly asked a strange question.
"You brought your Trainer ID with you when you went out, right?"
"Uh, what does that have to do with anything...?"
The unease in Kitahara's heart grew even stronger.
"It does have to do with it."
Shanish looked at him and spoke calmly.
"This body's student ID hasn't been processed yet, so I can't book a room."
"...You mean you want to book a room to discuss the new era with me, right?"
Kitahara asked tentatively.
She looked at him calmly and said nothing.
"...It's about the new era, right?"
Feeling the strength coming from the hand gripping his, cold sweat began to bead on Kitahara's forehead.
This was not what they had agreed on.
They had clearly been talking just fine before. How had Shanish suddenly jumped straight to dragging him off to book a room?
Wasn't this script wrong? Her characterization had completely collapsed.
In fact, it had not.
The reason Shanish had never acted before was purely that she had never possessed a real body.
Even if she chased off a certain black rice ball, she had the will but not the means.
As for why, despite seeming to have had little contact with Kitahara, her affection for him was so high...
Back then, in order to stop her, the Three Goddesses had dug out Eclipse's heart, intending to replace it with an emotionless monster.
And now, that heart was beating inside her body.
The feelings that had flowed away from that hollow had never vanished.
They had merely been transferred somewhere Kitahara could not see.
Faced with Shanish's threat, Kitahara attempted to seek help, turning to look at the old Umamusume beside them.
The latter smiled, then gave him the middle finger in return.
Although she did not know what had happened, that girl's identity clearly was not ordinary either.
But as long as it was something that could mess with this blockhead, the old Umamusume supported it without exception.
It was long past time someone Uma Pyoi'd him hard.
"Um, Shanish, you know, I'm currently thinking about the new era..."
"That's fine. We can talk in the room."
Shanish was not one of those young Umamusume. She could almost be called Eclipse's other side.
"Also, don't think about secretly asking for help. If you don't move your finger away from your phone, I may have to buy you a new one afterward."
Kitahara: "..."
Three Goddesses? Three Goddesses, help me!
Why are you just watching? Have you truly betrayed me?
"You should be grateful."
Shanish comforted him.
"If those three useless things could have physical bodies like me, the one thing they absolutely wouldn't do is help you. If they didn't fuck you right there, that would already count as restraint on their part."
After a pause, seeing that Kitahara was still trying to struggle, Shanish no longer bothered wasting words on him.
She directly turned her head and looked at the old Umamusume.
"Do you have a spare room?"
The old Umamusume answered just as directly.
"No room, but there's a basement."
"May I borrow it?"
"Here's the key. Go that way and head downstairs."
"Thank you."
Shanish took the key, then led Kitahara away.
Kitahara tried to resist, but unfortunately, this body was different from a normal Umamusume's. For the moment, he found it very difficult to locate a weakness.
With her strength on par with Eclipse's, even after being strengthened, he could not resist.
"Shanish, how about we throw a celebration party for your new life first...?"
"That's fine. We can hold it in the basement."
She pressed him down onto the bed.
"I don't mind."
...
Some time later.
Kitahara sat at the edge of the bed, glanced from the corner of his eye at Shanish lying limply on the bed beside him, and let out a deep sigh.
What even was all this...?
---
T/N: ????????????????????????????
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